1955, verbal noun from surf (v.).
1680s, probably from earlier suffe (1590s), of uncertain origin. Originally used in reference to the coast of India, hence perhaps of Indic origin. Or perhaps a phonetic respelling of sough, which meant "a rushing sound."
To move or pass through some range of choices, such as television channels: I surfed from your show/ They're surfing the same part of the zeitgeist
Related Terms[1990s+; fr the ease and rapidity of movement while surfing on waves]
("Internet surfing") Used by analogy to describe the ease with which an expert user can use the waves of information flowing around the Internet to get where he wants. The term became popular in the early 1990s as access to the Internet became more widespread and tools such as World-Wide Web browsers made its use simpler and more pleasant.
(1995-01-05)